Tag Archives: self

This year marks the 40thanniversary of Mars Hill Productions! In this devotional series, president, Fred Carpenter is reflecting on the important lessons of God that have guided us in ministry and led us into a deeper understanding of His ways.

“And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me . . . for when I am weak, then I am strong.” – 2 Cor. 12:9&10

Since the early days of Mars Hill, I have used a personality profile assessment with all incoming staff. The one we use is called the DiSC. This assessment is not a test that one could pass or fail. It is more like a mirror that simply reveals who you are. I have found that our personality is much like our fingerprint or the color of our eyes. It is simply how God has wired us. It reveals how we naturally respond to the world around us.

The idea of basic personality types, or temperaments, dates back to the days of early Greco-Roman medicine. The Greek physician Hippocrates (c. 460 – c. 370 BC) incorporated four basic personality temperaments into his medical theories. These included sanguine (enthusiastic, active, social), choleric (driven, goal oriented, often Type A), melancholic (analytical, creative, introspective), and phlegmatic (relaxed, steady, often peaceful). Most people have a combination of these, with one or two being predominant. There is not a right or wrong personality type. God makes every person unique, for a different purpose. Each one is “fearfully and wonderfully made” – Ps.139:14

Much like Hippocrates’s 4 temperaments, the DiSC assessment is based on the idea that there are four basic personality “styles”, and a vast number of combinations of these four. The DiSC styles are dominance (D), influence (i), steadiness (S), and conscientiousness (C). Generally, people do well in roles that rely on their strengths. For example, if you need a cheerleader on your team, you’d want to find someone with a high amount of “i”. If you want someone to pay close attention to the details to make sure nothing is missed and everything is done right, then you’d want someone with a high amount of “C”.

I’ve learned that it is not good to expect someone to function outside of their natural bent, in a style in which they are weak, over a long period of time. That person will not flourish and be happy, and neither will you. Continue reading →